JPH08314679A - Application management control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the operability of a multiwindow system which has an application starting method using icons by relating (grouping) and managing applications represented with the icons or plural windows. CONSTITUTION: This method consists of window management information 1, a window management information control part 2 which accesses it, an inter- program communication control part 3 which sends access information when another program accesses a window to the application control part 2, an input control part 4 which sends input information to an application control part 6, an input device 5 that an operator operates, the application control part 6 which controls applications and also starts and controls the applications according to input to and output from the window management information control part 2 and input control part 4, and a display device 7 which displays the windows.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an application management control method in multi-window display of an electronic computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional management method using icons,
Launch a single application corresponding to one data
Manage. However, when various data are related to each other, the operator has to start and manage a plurality of applications in order to refer to or take out the related data, which increases the number of operations by the operator.

As one of means for solving this, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-40590, a plurality of windows are set as a group and a new icon corresponding thereto is provided to reduce the operation of the operator. there were.

[0004]

According to the conventional method, when the applications are grouped, a new icon is separately required, the number of the icons is unnecessarily increased, and the group in which the application that needs to be activated exists. Since it has to be searched again, there is a problem that the operation of the operator becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and when the grouped applications are started, the applications previously associated (grouped) by the operator are also started at the same time to improve the operability of the operator. It is intended to improve.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has application and window management information as a grouping record for each icon. When the application is started (icon selection / execution), the presence or absence of the grouping record is checked, and if the grouping record exists, the application is started and the window state is restored according to the recorded contents.

[0007]

The present invention is made up of the following four basic parts and collectively manages various applications and their associated window groups, thereby reducing operator's operations and improving operability.

(1) A grouping record in which application information and window information are recorded for each icon is created / updated by an operator's instruction.

(2) When the icon (main application) is started, the grouping record is referenced to start and collectively manage each application.

(3) When the icon (main application) is terminated, the state of each application is recorded in the grouping record and the application is terminated.

(4) The icon representing the grouped application is changed according to the operator's instruction.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which window management information 1 which is a collection of grouped records, a window management information control unit 2 for accessing the window management information 1, and another program is a window. Access control section 3 for sending access information to the application control section 2 for accessing to the application control section 4, input control section 4 for sending input information to the application control section 6, input device 5 operated by an operator, window management information control section 2 And an application control unit 6 for starting and controlling an application in accordance with input / output from the input control unit 4, and a display device 7 for displaying a window.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen of the device having the above-mentioned configuration and capable of starting an application from an icon. In this figure, an icon (document, A, B) corresponding to each application is displayed in the system menu screen example 8, and the operator selects and executes a desired icon with the mouse cursor 9.

For example, suppose that the icon "document" is selected and executed. At this time, application control 6
Searches the grouping record corresponding to the document icon from the window management information 1. As a result, if there is no grouping record corresponding to the document icon, the application corresponding to the icon is independently started as shown in FIG.
The window 10 of the application (document) is displayed on the display device. At this time, the process of this application is not under the control of the application control unit 6.

If there is a grouping record corresponding to the document icon, a plurality of applications are collectively activated as shown in FIG. 4 based on the information. In the example of FIG.
Window 10 of the main application (document),
The windows 11 and 12 of the application C associated (grouped) with it are displayed.

In the above two states, the application B which is not grouped can be activated and the application can be added to the group of document icons according to the instruction of the operator. FIG. 5 shows a specific example of means for grouping applications that do not belong to a group. There is a "group by" tag in the window manager pull-down menu 13. When the tag is selected, the group selection submenu 14 is displayed and the operator associates with an already existing group or creates a new group. When the tag of "new group" is selected, a dialog for inputting a new group name is displayed to prompt the operator to input.

Next, a specific example of grouping will be described with reference to FIG.

When the application document and the application A are already grouped and the application B is additionally registered in the group, first, the application B is activated and a window is displayed. In this example, window H and window I are displayed,
The operator can associate (group) the application B by grouping either of the windows. For example, when the operator performs grouping on the window I, the application control unit 6 identifies the application displaying the window and groups all the windows currently displayed by the application.

The application window is
It can be closed freely by the operator, and when closed,
The window is removed from group control. For example, by selecting the "ungroup" tag in the window menu 13 as in the specific example of ungrouping in FIG. 6, only that window is removed from group management. The application itself is taken out of the group management when all the windows displayed by one application are ungrouped.

When the main application (the application indicated by the representative icon) is closed by the operator's instruction or the apparatus itself is terminated, the information of the current application is recorded as a grouping record. After that, all associated application processes are terminated, and the state is restored at the next icon startup.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example of changing the representative icon. Select the grouped icon 14,
The icon menu 15 is displayed. The icon is changed by the operator selecting the "icon change" tag therein. When this tag is selected, icons corresponding to the grouped applications are displayed in a list, and the operator can select any icon. FIG. 9 shows a model when the operator selects an icon corresponding to the application K and registers it as a representative icon.

Next, the processing flow of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12.

FIG. 10 shows the flow of processing when the application is started. When the operator selects and executes an icon, the application control unit 6 searches the window management information 1 for a grouping record corresponding to the icon. If there is no grouping record corresponding to the icon as a result of the search (step 16-N), the application corresponding to the icon is independently started (step 1).
7). If the grouping record corresponding to the icon exists (step 16-Y), the grouping record is taken out (step 18), and the applications are collectively started based on the information (step 19). The application control unit 6 manages the process of the application started at that time and window information (step 2).
0).

FIG. 11 shows the flow of processing when the application ends. If the operator terminates the main application, the window information (window position,
(Size) is processed as a grouping record and recorded in the window management information 1 (step 21). When the writing is completed, the application control unit 6 terminates all the applications at once and removes them from the process management targets (steps 22 and 23).

FIG. 12 shows the flow when the operator specifies grouping. When the operator puts a window into a group, first, a list of existing groups and an area for registering a new group name are displayed (step 24). Next, the operator selects from the displayed group names, or inputs a group name when he or she wants to create a new group (step 2).
5). If the input group name is an existing one (step 26-N), the application control unit 6 investigates the main application from the grouping record and updates the grouping record held by the application. (Step 27). If it is a new group (step 26-Y), the application is specified from the window operated by the operator, and a grouping record corresponding to the application icon is created (step 28).

Next, the structure of grouped recording will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of grouping recording recorded on the storage device. Grouped records are for each application corresponding to each icon (29, 30, 31)
It is managed by and is a collection of some of them. The grouping record for each application, which is one management unit, is the application startup parameter 3
2, window position information 33, window size information 34, and in the case of a text editor or terminal emulator, display text 35 is composed of the gathered information.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the applications can be collectively managed, and the activation and termination can be collectively performed. Also, the state of the window displayed by each application can be saved, and the state can be restored when the application is restarted.

[0030]

According to the present invention, the work of activating a plurality of applications and searching for data is eliminated, and the operability of the operator is improved. Further, since the related application group is collectively managed, it is possible to collectively manage the work units, and the related data can be immediately retrieved, so that the work efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the constituent device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing activation of an application by itself.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing activation of grouped applications.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of grouping means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of grouping cancellation means.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a model for additionally registering an application in a group.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of changing a representative icon.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a model of changing a representative icon.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing when an application is activated.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process when an application ends.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart when an operator specifies grouping.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of grouping recording.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Window management information, 2 ... Window management information control part, 3 ... Inter-program communication control part, 4 ... Input control part, 5 ... Input device, 6 ... Application control part, 7 ... Display device.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A means for associating (grouping) a plurality of applications on behalf of one of the applications started by an icon and a group representing the group on a multi-window type computer having an icon starting method. Means to indicate one icon,
A management control method characterized by performing collective management by means for activating a plurality of applications defined by a designated icon and means for stopping a plurality of applications defined by a designated icon. 2. The management control method according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing one icon representing a certain group to another icon in the group. 3. The management control method according to claim 1, further comprising means for belonging one application to a plurality of groups. 4. The management control method according to claim 1, further comprising means for activating only a specific application belonging to the group. 5. The management control method according to claim 1, further comprising means for stopping only a specific application belonging to the group.